Teaching Storytelling and Culture Change through Story Slams at Olin College

Today’s guest, Jonathan Adler, is an internationally recognized scholar in the study of personal narrative and its relationship with well-being. Jonathan is a professor of psychology at Olin College of Engineering, a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School, and a theater director and playwright. His work brings together the rigor of science with the wonder and mystery of art, to show how writing a narrative and then living into that narrative can shift the future for the better. 

Jonathan and Chris discuss: 

• What the science tells us about how storytelling and narratives work 
• Why humans tell stories, and the role these stories can play in transforming leaders and organizations 
• Why redemptive narratives, such as the American narrative about beating cancer, can be transformative—but why these same narratives can also do harm 
• How leaders can use storytelling to navigate narrative conflicts and create alignment around a shared vision of the future 

And much more!